Bottom Line:
The observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.1704 at HLD118 locus to 0.5247 at HLD92 locus while the expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.1559 at HLD118 locus to 0.4997 at HLD101 locus.Analyses of structure, PCA, interpopulation differentiations and phylogenetic tree revealed that the Xibe group had close genetic relationships with South Korean, Beijing Han and Guangdong Han groups.Further studies should be conducted for better understanding of the Xibe genetic background.

ABSTRACTIn the present study, we obtained population genetic data and forensic parameters of 30 InDel loci in Chinese Xibe ethnic group from northwestern China and studied the genetic relationships between the studied Xibe group and other reference groups. The observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.1704 at HLD118 locus to 0.5247 at HLD92 locus while the expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.1559 at HLD118 locus to 0.4997 at HLD101 locus. The cumulative power of exclusion and total probability of discrimination power in the studied group were 0.9867 and 0.9999999999902 for the 30 loci, respectively. Analyses of structure, PCA, interpopulation differentiations and phylogenetic tree revealed that the Xibe group had close genetic relationships with South Korean, Beijing Han and Guangdong Han groups. The results indicated that these 30 loci should only be used as a complement for autosomal STRs in paternity cases but could provide an acceptable level of discrimination in forensic identification cases in the studied Xibe group. Further studies should be conducted for better understanding of the Xibe genetic background.

f3: Phylogenic tree constructed by the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means based on the 30 InDel loci of the Xibe group and 10 reference groups.

Mentions:
Phylogenetic reconstruction was conducted to illustrate the genetic relationships between the studied Xibe group and the reference groups using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means method (UPGMA). The UPGMA tree was shown in Fig. 3. The dendrogram showed 2 main clusters. The first cluster was composed of two branches: one included Hungarian, Madrid (Central Spanish), Dane, Basque Country (Northern Spanish); the other included Kazak and Uigur, respectively. The second cluster was composed of Beijing Han, Guangdong Han, South Korean, Xibe and Tibetan groups. The result was consistent with the above mentioned results of structure and PCA. The Xibe group was first clustered with the South Korean group, followed by Beijing Han and Guangdong Han group, then the Tibetan group. Zheng et al. constructed a phylogenetic tree based on 17 Y-STR loci (AmpFlSTR® Y-filer™ PCR Amplification kit, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) revealed that the Xibe group from Xinjiang was clustered with Chinese Korean group before clustered with Shandong Han population37. A study on mitochondrial DNA of Xibe group also reported an unrooted Neighbor-Joining tree indicating that Xibe group from Xinjiang had a close relationship with Chinese Korean group, Northern Han group and Southern Han group, and the relationship between Xibe and Korean group was closer than that between Xibe and the two Han groups38. Since the ancestors of Chinese Korean ethnic group migrated from the Korean peninsula from about the late 17th century, Chinese Korean ethnic group and South Korean group had the same ancestry origin39. Before the Qing government moved the Xibe ethnic group with people of some other ethnic minorities to Xinjiang to consolidate and reinforce the northwestern border defenses in the mid-18th century, they lived in the northeast China, where was also the residence of Chinese Korean group39. The close geographic distance may lead to intermarriage, and gene flow would be one of the reasons that cause the close relationship between Xibe and Korean group.

f3: Phylogenic tree constructed by the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means based on the 30 InDel loci of the Xibe group and 10 reference groups.

Mentions:
Phylogenetic reconstruction was conducted to illustrate the genetic relationships between the studied Xibe group and the reference groups using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means method (UPGMA). The UPGMA tree was shown in Fig. 3. The dendrogram showed 2 main clusters. The first cluster was composed of two branches: one included Hungarian, Madrid (Central Spanish), Dane, Basque Country (Northern Spanish); the other included Kazak and Uigur, respectively. The second cluster was composed of Beijing Han, Guangdong Han, South Korean, Xibe and Tibetan groups. The result was consistent with the above mentioned results of structure and PCA. The Xibe group was first clustered with the South Korean group, followed by Beijing Han and Guangdong Han group, then the Tibetan group. Zheng et al. constructed a phylogenetic tree based on 17 Y-STR loci (AmpFlSTR® Y-filer™ PCR Amplification kit, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) revealed that the Xibe group from Xinjiang was clustered with Chinese Korean group before clustered with Shandong Han population37. A study on mitochondrial DNA of Xibe group also reported an unrooted Neighbor-Joining tree indicating that Xibe group from Xinjiang had a close relationship with Chinese Korean group, Northern Han group and Southern Han group, and the relationship between Xibe and Korean group was closer than that between Xibe and the two Han groups38. Since the ancestors of Chinese Korean ethnic group migrated from the Korean peninsula from about the late 17th century, Chinese Korean ethnic group and South Korean group had the same ancestry origin39. Before the Qing government moved the Xibe ethnic group with people of some other ethnic minorities to Xinjiang to consolidate and reinforce the northwestern border defenses in the mid-18th century, they lived in the northeast China, where was also the residence of Chinese Korean group39. The close geographic distance may lead to intermarriage, and gene flow would be one of the reasons that cause the close relationship between Xibe and Korean group.

Bottom Line:
The observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.1704 at HLD118 locus to 0.5247 at HLD92 locus while the expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.1559 at HLD118 locus to 0.4997 at HLD101 locus.Analyses of structure, PCA, interpopulation differentiations and phylogenetic tree revealed that the Xibe group had close genetic relationships with South Korean, Beijing Han and Guangdong Han groups.Further studies should be conducted for better understanding of the Xibe genetic background.

ABSTRACTIn the present study, we obtained population genetic data and forensic parameters of 30 InDel loci in Chinese Xibe ethnic group from northwestern China and studied the genetic relationships between the studied Xibe group and other reference groups. The observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.1704 at HLD118 locus to 0.5247 at HLD92 locus while the expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.1559 at HLD118 locus to 0.4997 at HLD101 locus. The cumulative power of exclusion and total probability of discrimination power in the studied group were 0.9867 and 0.9999999999902 for the 30 loci, respectively. Analyses of structure, PCA, interpopulation differentiations and phylogenetic tree revealed that the Xibe group had close genetic relationships with South Korean, Beijing Han and Guangdong Han groups. The results indicated that these 30 loci should only be used as a complement for autosomal STRs in paternity cases but could provide an acceptable level of discrimination in forensic identification cases in the studied Xibe group. Further studies should be conducted for better understanding of the Xibe genetic background.